re: NASA - Being that I'm from Nasa's second hometown (Huston is the first) I can only heartily agree about the bueracrachy and the waste and the corruption and all of that. However, I'm not convinced it's possible to have a long-running government program *without* all of that.

(I'm open to counter examples. But I don't think there are many.)

And it's very true, I think, that private companies would do a better job. Except they have not, to this point, and again, "private companies do it better" is as true for other programs as the "government programs corrupt."

And so I'll continue to support NASA, because I'd rather waste the money on space exploration than on other things.

re: education - would you say that it's more true that a person can not *think* without the ability to write, or that they can not *communicate their thoughts* to others, without the organizational skills taught by writing?

As a student, I myself find that my understanding of materials - and, esp, my understanding of what areas I *don't* grasp - is brought into focus by writing about the subject matter.

re: glasses - now would not be the time to note that my mother has bifocals *and* computer glasses, would it? *g* I, on the other hand, am so hopelessly near-sighted that I do no fine detail work without glasses. Or any work, for that matter.

Here's hoping the day improves.

- hg